Sinni clinches maiden National round win at Sandown
The Australian Formula Ford 2022 season kicked off over the weekend with a massive field of 36 cars at Sandown raceway as part of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Series.
A good mix of 27 Duratec- powered and 8 Kent-powered cars comprised the combined National and State field.
Jordyn Sinni stuck the first blow of the weekend, claiming pole position and the subsequent Freem Racewear $250 prize in his Duratec-powered Spectrum. It was Sinni’s maiden pole position in the National Formula Ford Series and kicked off a perfect start to his 2022 campaign. Race 1 was declared a non-event for our National Series, due to two safety car periods soaking up most racing laps.
Sunday was a different day, with some of the best young talents in the southern hemisphere showing that the 2022 Australian Formula Ford season is going to be intense. Race 2 saw a fantastic battle out the front of the field between Sinni and Sonic driver Matthew Hillyer. Hillyer impressed everybody, pushing Sinni all the way to the finish in what is his rookie Formula Ford season. It was the Spectrum driver who ended up claiming victory. The battle for third place was just as intense with four drivers Cody Donald, Xavier Kokai, James Piszcyk and Kye Cavedon swapping positions multiple times throughout the 8 laps encounter. Cody Donald, one of the most experienced drivers this year, took third on the final lap to round out the podium for race 2.
Race 3 was a 10-lap thriller, showcasing some standout driving in both classes. Matthew Hillyer launched his Mygale off the line and took the early lead in front of Sinni and Donald. On lap 7, Cody Donald made a lovely pass up the inside of Hillyer, halfway up the main straight, showcasing the driving ability of these drivers. Donald, Hillyer and Sinni really turned it on for the fans in the final 3 laps, the three youngsters racing wheel-to-wheel in perfect Formula Ford style. Donald passed Hillyer on the final lap and claimed his first win of the year ahead of a fast-finishing Jordyn Sinni and Clay Richards, who navigated up the order to third place on the final lap. This great battle was one of the reasons why Cody Donald received the CHI Fast Charger Award for the weekend.
Lady luck swung towards Spectrum driver Xavier Kokai on Sunday morning, when the grid for race 2 was re-shuffled to qualifying order due to race 1 being declared a non-event. Kokai managed both races on Sunday very smartly, finishing race 2 in fourth position outright and race 3 in fifth position after an unfortunate DNF in race 1. These results, together with the fact that Hillyer was not registered for National Series points, gave him the round podium for round 1 of the 2022 Australian Formula Ford Series. This meant the season started with a full Spectrum podium, a great start to the 2022 campaign for the Melbourne-manufactured cars.
In the Kent class, it was the perfect weekend for Richard Davison, who claimed Pole Position in his RF95 Van Diemen, before taking a clean sweep of race wins and the first round of the State Championship. Reigning Victorian FF1600 Champion Brendan Jones had to work his way up the field after an electrical issue kept him out of race 1. James Meaden drove impeccably all weekend, bringing his RF86 Van Diemen home in second position for the weekend, while Gavin Dumas rounded out the podium in his Mygale.
The Australian Formula Ford Championship makes its way down to Phillip Island in 3 weeks’ time for round 2 of the season as part of the Shannons Nationals program.
Round 2 of the 2022 Victorian Formula Ford Championship is scheduled for March 25th-27th at Winton Motor Raceway.
Photo’s from the weekend are available for download from our online gallery.
Weekend Results Pole Position Duratec: Jordyn Sinni 1:15:4115 Kent: Richard Davison 1:21:7728 Race 1 No Race declared. Race 2 Duratec
Kent
Race 3: Duratec
Kent
CHI Hard Charger Award – Cody Donald Freem Pole Position Award – Jordyn Sinni
2022 Australian Formula Ford Series Pointscore
1st - Jordyn Sinni - 37pts
2nd - Cody Donald - 36pts
3rd - Xavier Kokai - 26pts
4th - Clay Richards - 25pts
5th - James Piszcyk - 23pts
6th - Winston Smith - 19pts
7th - Jarred Farrell - 16pts
8th - Matthew Holmes - 15pts
9th - Ryder Quinn - 12pts
10th - Kye Cavedon - 10pts
2022 Australian Formula Ford Series Calendar
Round 1: 26-27 February at Sandown Raceway (VIC State Championship) Round 2: 19-20 March - Phillip Island GP Circuit (Shannons Nationals) Round 3: 21-22 May - Winton Motor Raceway (Supercars) Round 4: 6-7 August at Sydney Motorsport Park (NSW State Championship) Round 5: 27-28 August at Morgan Park Raceway (QLD State Championship)* Round 6: 17-18 September at The Bend Motorsport Park (SA State Championship)* Round 7: 29-30 October at Sydney Motorsport Park (NSW State Championship)*
*denotes 2022 Australian FF1600 Championship rounds.
